It has been almost three years since the deadly collapse of
the Rana Plaza textile factory in Bangladesh; a tragedy that killed more than
1100 and injured 2500, and sparked demands for better protection for garment against
dangerous working conditions and low pay.
Now Fairtrade has designed a new Textile Standard and
Programme to tackle challenging working conditions by extending the Fairtrade
approach to the entire textile supply chain.
"By committing to Fairtrade, companies can now help improve the social and economic wellbeing of workers across the entire production chain," says Martin Hill, Interim CEO at Fairtrade International.
The new standard is based on Fairtrade’s existing Hired
Labour Standard and focuses on working conditions, living wages and workers’
rights, and is open to other sustainable fibres as well as cotton. It’s the
first standard to require living wages to be paid within a set time period –
six years - and brand owners will also be contractually responsible for fair
and long-term purchasing practices - essential for implementing wage increases.
Overall, the standard aims to empower factory workers and enable them to
negotiate labour conditions independently.
According to Fairtrade, the new standard is the first step towards implementing a
comprehensive Fairtrade Textile Programme to change textile supply chains and
related business practices. The programme will be similar in concept to the
producer services provided to farmers and workers, but will be specific to
textile factories. Following an initial assessment, factories will be supported
to meet the standard's requirements.
FLOCERT, the independent certification body for Fairtrade,
will audit the textile companies. Workers in the textile industry participate
in these audits through elected representatives who inform the workforce of the
results. FLOCERT only uses auditors who are particularly familiar with the
complex procedures in the textile production. "Our auditors are experts in
their fields. They work together with the factory workers and management to
come up with solutions to improve the workers' situation," says FLOCERT’S
CEO Rüdiger Meyer.
Fairtrade is currently negotiating with interested companies
and hopes to announce commitments soon. The standard is applicable from June
2016. "We’re inviting all textile companies to work together with their
staff and with Fairtrade to create a fairer production process for
textiles," says Martin Hill. Once their entire supply chain has been
certified in line with the Fairtrade Textile Standard, products will carry the
Fairtrade Textile Production Mark. Product packaging will also indicate the
brand’s progress towards achieving living wages in the product supply chain.
For further information on the Fairtrade Textile Standard, click HERE.
No comments:
Post a Comment